What Matters: October 2002
Engineering Better Housing
By Stephen Stuntz '67
Housing presents a problem which is challenging, and fun, for an MIT grad who has been trained to use science and engineering to solve the problems of today. Three threads come together in housing to make the issues germane to tackle: the crisis in affordable housing, the environmental impact of housing, and the complexity of the real estate system.
Housing prices have risen at the same rate as tuition increases. In the mid-60s we paid about $1,200 in tuition. Now, the current tuition for comparable schools is about $28,000, a 14-fold increase. Many people in lower and middle income brackets are unable to afford housing. This crisis is compounded by several factors. Because of public transportation and other services in cities, there is a desire to move into the more populated areas. Secondly, manufacturing jobs are moving out of cities leaving only lower skilled, lower paying jobs behind. A two-pronged solution of bringing higher skilled jobs back into cities as well as creating quality, affordable housing needs to be implemented.
The suburban sprawl of our current housing trends exacerbates our environmental problems. Large, separate house with long commutes to work, often in separate cars, contribute to our consumption of energy in all of its forms. This energy use, combined with current building practice of utilizing non-recyclable materials, help to create the housing industry's significant impact on our environment, in the filling of landfills, the consumption of fossil fuels and the air pollution caused by using non-sustainable materials.
The third piece of the problem, the complexity of the real estate system, adds a meaty challenge to solving the housing shortages. MIT has several traditions that have helped toward addressing the complexity of the problem. System dynamics, introduced by Jay Forrester SM '45 in the 1960s, helped us model the cycles of housing. This systems work has led to better understanding of the housing market and the needs of the principal decision maker for new residential construction, the developer.
The second tradition at MIT which has led the way toward creating solutions in the complexity of the building construction itself is the work of John Bemis. After WWII, John Bemis designed a building with fold up walls that were attached with piano hinges. The modular concept, a natural successor to fold up walls, has current applicability in housing today.
What is the avenue for me, as an MIT engineer, to address these three threads? By combining insights from system dynamic modeling with work for the Department of Energy in the Building America Program, we have been able to define a new business model for producing housing for the affordable market. We are building better housing for less. I am currently starting an inner city housing factory with two partners, one of whom also graduated from MIT (Robert MacDonald '68). Our factory is producing modular housing, utilizing the latest technology and products, for 20% less than current prices.
We have brought the jobs back to the inner city to create jobs paying a living wage in a place where people can live and commute on public transportation. By utilizing efficient technologies we can reduce waste, build more efficiently and therefore reduce costs. We use components with no vinyl content, carpeting with recycled plastics in its core, low volatile organic paints, a minimal heating system, and other sustainable products and concepts. We are making houses healthier for the environment as well as healthier and more pleasant to live in.
Even our reuse of our factory fits the sustainable theme that is part of the Greentech culture. We were able rent a building that had been vacant for the last four years. The factory is on a street named after the company that operated in our building until the late 1950s. Come see us at 30 Pullman Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. We enjoy having company.
About the Author
Stephen Stuntz '67, president and founder of Greentech Housing, was former president of Acorn Structures of Acton, MA. He is also cofounder of Hickory Consortium, a non-profit organization that pursues new ideas and direction in sustainable and energy-efficient housing. At MIT he has a long history of volunteering with the Independent Living Group System, is an elected water commissioner in his home town of Acton and most importantly father of five with the last one in college. He is an electrical engineering graduate from MIT (1967) and a graduate of the Harvard Business School.
What Matters is a guest opinion column written by a different MIT alumnus or alumna. The views expressed are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Alumni Association or MIT. Interested in writing a column? Email whatmatters@mit.edu.
